thank you. >>> it may be the republicans biggest weapon in the fiscal cliff debate and democrats are trying to remove it permanently. this week, treasury secretary timothy geithner took a proposal to gop leaders that significantly restrict congress' authority over the debt limit. house speaker john boehner pushing back maintaining a debt ceiling increase would need to be matched by spending cuts. >> if we're going to talk about the debt limit in this, then, there's going to be some price tag associated with it. i continue to believe that any increase in the debt limit has to be aacademied by spending reductions that meet or exceed it. >> joining me now, political anchor "new york one news" and co-editor of "scandals, tragedies and trumps triumphs." senior ederter for politics and news at yahoo! news. she has become a weekend pal. thanks for being back with us, both of you. let's start with the debt limit, we're talking about the debt limit, again. do republicans believe this is their ace in the hole? >> i sure hope they don't. i think the president has the stronger hand on this. numb